Foldable chair



' F 1952 v. K. wlEsiTo T 2,598,872

FOLDABLE CHAIR Filed June 7', 1950 M I L [L] v ll II INVENTOR.

Patented June 3, 1952 EOLDABLE CHAIR Vincent K. Wiesztort, Florence,Mesa, assignor of one-fourth to Edward F. Walker and onefourth to EdwardJ. Aubrey, both of Florence,

.Mass., Hadley, 'Mass.

and one fourth to John Mish, Jn,

Application ilune'l, 1950, Serial No. 1665705 1 Claim. 1

My invention relates to new and useful improvements in a foldable chairand is directed more particularly to the provision of a chair which .isadjustable with respect to the back and is collapsible to a compactposition for storage, shipping or the like, and to an improvement in themeans for accomplishing the adjusting, folding, andcollapsing features.

It is the principal object of my invention to provide a novel andimproved construction of the type in which the seat, arms, legs, andback are so designed as to allow the chair to be folded into a compactstructure and there is the further provision of a foldable chair whichwill eliminate the now present objectionable inconveniences and whichwill operate with amaximum amount of ease and with a minimum degree ofeffort.

One of theprimary purposes of my invention is to provide structural andoperational improvements in devices of the class to which reference hasbeen made, which improvements not only simplify the structure as such,but also provide important and distinct advantages in strength,durability and the like.

With the above primary object in view, it is another object of myinvention to provide a construction of the above describedcharacter inwhich the numberof operating parts .is greatly reduced and simplifiedand which is compact, all in accordance with the demands and desires ofmanufacturers and purchasers alike and which is not-only distinctive inits appearance and practical in its value but also reliable in itsoperation and efilcient in its use.

My invention also consists in certain new and original features ofconstruction and combination of parts hereinafter set forth and claimedin conjunction with the annexed drawings which illustrate a certain formof embodiment thereof, which form is deemed preferable and is a specificdisclosure for the purpose of illustrating said embodiment since thesame has been found in practice to give satisfactory and reliableresults although it is to be understood that, the various parts of whichthe invention consists can be changed within the scope of the appendedclaim without departing from the broad aspects and spirit of theinvention.

All of the above objects I accomplish by means of such structure andrelative arrangement of parts thereof, as will fully appear by a perusalof the description below and by various specific features which will behereinafter set forth.

To the above cited and other ends and with the foregoing and variousother novel features and advantages and other objects of my invention aswill become more readily apparent as the description provides, myinvention consists in certain novel features lOf construction and in thecombination and arrangement of parts as will be hereinafter moreparticularly pointed out ;in the claim hereunto .annexedand more fullydescribed and referred :to in connection with the accompanying drawingswherein:

Fig. l is a side elevational view of the device of my invention;

Fig. 2 is a front .elevational view .of .thedevice shown in Fig. .1; and

Fig. 3 is a small scaleside .elevational view of the device of my.inventionshown in the collapsed position.

In thefollowing description and claim, various details will beidentified by specific names for convenience. These .names, however,..are .intended to be asgenericin theirapplicationas"the art willpermit.

Referring :now to the drawing more in :detail, in which similarcharactersof reference indicate corresponding .parts in the .several:figures .and referring. more particularly :toLthe preferred form of myinvention, I .have shcw'na pairo'f iparallel side rails lll'which are;held in spaced-:apartrelation by a plurality of transverse slats 12.

The side rails l0 incline downwardly and :rearwardly so'as toserve aszrearllegs fortheohair, as shown in Fig. v1.

The slat members vI 2 areattachedtotheupper edges of the members [0 andI0 and connect the same so as to function as a seat.

The rails Ill are pivotally connected to front legs M- by a rod memberl6 which extends from one rail across to the other rail and serves notonly as a brace but also as a pivot means by which the legs arepivotally movable relative to the rails.

To the upper end of the members M are pivotally connected the forwardextremities of arm members 18 by means of pivoted connections 24. Thearm members 18 may carry arm rests 26, all as is shown in Fig. 1.

The rear extremities of the arm. members It are held in spaced-apartrelation and are connected by a rod member 22 which extendstherebetween.

A back is provided and comprises a plurality of slats 26 which areconnected and held relative to each other by means of a cross member28spaced downwardly from the upper ends of the members 26. The lower endsof the members 26 are connected together by a cross member 30.

. rod member 32, as shown in Fig. 1, with the slats 26 disposedforwardly of the members 32 and 32.

Adjustable strut members are provided which have their forward upperends pivoted as at 36 to the arm members [8 and have their rearmostlower extremities connected together by means of a laterally extendingcross member 38 which extends therebetween and has portions which arereceivable in notches 40 in the upper faces of the members ID, as shownin Fig. 1.

By means of the adjustable strut members, it will .be appreciated thatthe chair may be adjusted and braced in various normal positions ofadjustment.

When it is desired to collapse the chair for purposes of shipment or thelike, the front legs are pivoted relative to the side rails so thattheir uppermost extremities are inclined rearwardly toward the rearmostportions of the side rails whereby the arm members and the adjustablestrut members are retreated rearwardly, the member 38 being disengagedfrom its seat in the notches 40, all to the end that the structureassumes the relatively flat form shown in In this folding operation, theback structure is removed from its normal position, the member not beingintegral with the remainder of the cooperating back separate therefrom,said base including a pair of longitudinal side rails held intransversely spaced relation by transverse members secured at oppositeends thereof and spaced longitudinally thereof forwardly from anintermediate portion to the forward ends thereof, upper edges of saidrails provided with aligned notches in spaced relation rearwardly ofsaid intermediate portion thereof, said legs including elongated memberspivoted intermediate upper and lower ends thereof to forward endportions of said side rails for swinging between set-up ed at forwardends thereby and in rearwardly declining relation and a knock-downrelation disposed at the outer sides of the side rails, said armsincluding longitudinal members pivotally and swingably connected atforward ends to upper ends of said legs having a transverse backsupporting member secured at its opposite ends to rear ends thereof andbeing swingable between set-up horizontal relation and knock-downrelation over said. rails, said struts including elongated membershaving upper ends pivotally and swingably connected to intermediateportions of said arms having a transverse member secured at its oppositeends to lower ends thereof which is receivable in aligned notches of thestructure as aforesaid. After the chair has been v folded or collapsedas explained above, and when it is desired to ship or otherwisetransport the construction, the back structure may be nested within theremainder of the folded elements in a manner such as shown in Fig. 3 toproduce a compact unit for shipping purposes.

The invention may .be embodied in other specific forms without departingfrom the essential characteristics thereof. Hence, the presentembodiments are therefore to be considered as being illustrative and notas being restrictive, the scope of the invention being indicated by theappended claim rather than by the foregoing description.

What it is desired to claim and secure by Letters Patent of the UnitedStates is:

A collapsible chair of the form having pivotally connected base, legs,arms and struts and a in set-up relation through said struts angularlyrelative to said side rails, said back including secured togetherlongitudinal members and having a lower end portion receivable betweenthe endmost rear transverse members of said base and having a transversemember adjacent said lower end for resting on one of said reartransverse members whereby said back is supported in upwardly extendingset-up relation and held against rearward movement by the transversemember of said arms and is removable for knockdown relation of saidchair.

VINCENT K. WIESZTORT.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,047,178 DeConninck July 14,1936 2,468,491 Dorschner Apr. 26, 1949

